“This summer has been an utter disgrace!” This was the comment of the evening, as we were cooking our burgers and sausages hidden away from the weather and eating them in the warmer climes of the Redfield Room.  Yes, once again an Emmanuel outdoor event bites the dust as our planned BBQ/open air service in the park hits the brick wall of inclement weather.  Never-the-less we all enjoyed ourselves and concluded the evening with a time of worship and praise.

Besides the disappointment of our outdoor program, this year has been very profitable indeed.  Since my last entry we have completed the second leg of our “Starting From Scratch” course during which we dealt with God’s plan of Salvation.  Such subjects  like ‘The Substitution of Christ’ –  ‘Propitiation - Redemption and Reconciliation’ were explored and each of us were thrilled at the love of God and His amazing grace toward us.  At the moment I am preparing for our third leg which is the daunting task of ‘The Doctrine Of God’ - which will begin on Thursday 24th of September and run for five weeks.

The Songs Of Revelation.

For the last two months Matthew has taken us through some of the songs of Revelation in our Thursday nights.  They have been an immense source of blessing to every one who has attended as he has dealt with such gems as Rev.5:9 — “And they sang a new song, saying: ‘You are worthy to take the scroll, and to open its seals; for You were slain, and have redeemed us to God by Your blood out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation, and have made us kings and priests to our God; and we shall reign on the earth.’” He is set to continue for another few weeks and hopefully these studies will be available on CD and MP3.

Leadership Conference

This is something new for us this year.  We’ve chosen a lovely country hotel in Kidwelly Carmarthenshire to hold our first Leadership Conference. Its taking place on September 26th and I for one am looking forward to it.  Times of worship, prayer and praise will be interspersed with three sessions outlining the ‘essentials of leadership - the responsibilities of leadership and lastly the nitty gritty of leadership‘.  The day will be rounded off with a time of worship and a word of exhortation from David.  The hotel was recommended by the Pastor of the local Apostolic Church so our expectations of a good looking after are very high indeed.

Children’s Ministries

Allison

A disappointing casualty of our extended building and renovation program was our children’s work but I am glad to say that we have begun to take tentative steps to remedy this situation with Allison who now takes the children on a Sunday evening as they follow the same program as the grown ups.  The childrens’ input into the main service as they recite their memory verses and act out dramas have added a lovely richness and variety to our times of worship.

The Evergreens

After a well earned summer break the Evergreens will be resuming business on Wednesday September 9th at 2:30pm.  This year in our opening service we will be joined by the ladies from Ynyshir who will minister to us and join with us in our celebration buffet.  This is our 13th year and it is our desire to see it going from strength to strength.  I think this is the most enjoyable meeting of the week and I find it very strange that people would rather stay in their own homes by themselves than join with us for a delightful and eventful afternoon.  So if you are one of those people or if you know someone who needs some company and could do with a bit fun then make an effort and come along  - you’ll not regret it I can promise you.

Men’s Fellowship

Just before I go I’d like to tell you about the Men’s Fellowship.  During 08/09 it was a real source of blessing as we were favored by ministry from both within our ranks and further afield.  Andrew Jenkins from the Apostolic Church and Ian Parry from the Cardiff Bay Church were among those who came to us with God’s precious Word.  Dave is planning the program for next year and the meetings are set to start up again on Monday October 4th at 7:30pm.

If you are local then you are more than welcome to come and join with us in these services I’m sure that they will be a blessing and a challenge to your faith.

In fact there is a warm welcome to everyone who actually ventures through the doors of Emmanuel Christian Fellowship - God is that type of Person and we are that type of people.  you will meet with people who love to worship and sing praises to our God, you will be confronted with the true Word of God as it is preached from the pulpit and you will be treated to a refreshing cup of tea if it happens to be a Wednesday afternoon or a Sunday night.  So why not come along it might be the moment that changes your life for time and eternity.

God’s Best to you all: